But nothing was coming easily last week for Wolfe, whose arrival at Ike was delayed by a gas line problem at his home at a time he was entertaining a house full of guests.

On the court nothing has kept the Sharks (13-2) from their appointed round. They might have had their coachesâ troubles in the backs of their minds, but it didnât affect their play.

âHe wasnât outspoken on (his mom)â said star Santiago guard Shiana Carrington of Wolfe. âHe mostly kept it to himself. Iâm sure itâs been hard for him. Itâs a rough situation and we just tried to take some of the weight off his shoulders.â

The Sharks are good at that. They struggled at first against the Eagles before lowering the boom with a 29-0 run. Chrishae Rowe scored eight of those points in the first 56 seconds of the second half. She finished with 24.

âIf I were an opposing coach, Iâd guard her,â Wolfe joked about Rowe.

The first year coaching a team can be challenging enough â" especially such a talented squad as Santiago, with so much expected of the five-time defending Big VIII League champions. Including this weekâs 73-19 victory against Norco, the Sharks have won nine consecutive games by an average of 45.5 points.

The Sharks agreed they were a little daunted at first by the towering Wolfe, a formidable player in his own right at Pomona and Santa Monica Crossroads high schools and BYU and Northern Arizona University.

âWe were used to playing for (coach John) Perez and we understood him,â Carrington said. âBut now weâve gotten used to our new coach and so we give him the same respect we gave Perez.â

The coachâs strength in the aftermath of his motherâs passing has not gone unnoticed by the Sharks.

âIâm sure itâs been on his mind,â said Santiago junior center Monique Billings. âItâs probably not easy to come in here and fake a smile and hold things together. I donât think I could do it, but then Iâm only 16 years old.â

More is expected of Wolfe, so he forges ahead, including speaking at his momâs service fewer than 24 hours after leaving the court.

During his eulogy Wolfe recalled his momâs sage nuggets of advice such as âtreat people as you want to be treatedâ and âif youâre offered home-made brownies, donât refuse them.â

Fittingly, after the victory against Ike, the Eagles were offered refreshments in their hospitality room. Mindful of his momâs advice, Wolfe didnât refuse them.

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